Community Corner

City Of Hermosa Beach Coronavirus Update For November 19

The County is now experiencing a dangerous acceleration of new cases that is increasing at a higher rate than the July surge.

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Press release from the City of Hermosa Beach:

November 19, 2020

To help keep the community informed, the City of Hermosa Beach is providing regular updates featuring the latest news about COVID-19; related local updates; and how the City is working to meet the needs of the community and protect public health.

Find out what's happening in Hermosa Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

COVID-19 Surges at Dangerous Pace as L.A. County Reports Record Number of New COVID-19 Diagnoses: Today, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 29 new deaths and 5,031 new cases of COVID-19. This is the highest number of daily new cases L.A. County has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic. The County is now experiencing a dangerous acceleration of new cases that is increasing at a higher rate than the July surge. From June 20 through July 3, the 7-day average increase in new cases was 47%. From October 28 through November 10, the 7-day average increase in new cases is surging at 68%.

Hermosa Beach Adds 75 COVID-19 Diagnoses in the Past Month: Hermosa Beach added 75 COVID-19 diagnoses in the past month and continues to have the highest rate of diagnoses of the Beach Cities. On October 19, L.A. County Department of Public Health reported Hermosa Beach had a total of 239 COVID-19 diagnoses since the beginning of the pandemic. Today, the Department reported Hermosa Beach had 314 diagnoses, an increase of 75. For comparison, Hermosa Beach had a total of 25 cases during the entire month of September as reported by the Beach Cities Health District. Wearing face coverings over your nose and mouth and keeping 6 feet of physical distance from non-household members continue to be the best protections against spreading the virus. Over the next month, public health officials have warned that the virus could spread even further if people gather with family and friends for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays and avoid the necessary precautions.

Find out what's happening in Hermosa Beachfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

State Issues Limited Stay at Home Order: Upon assessment of the recent, unprecedented rate of rise in increase in COVID-19 cases across California, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced today that it is taking immediate actions to prevent the spread of the virus. The Department said these immediate actions will help reduce community spread, protect individuals at higher risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 and prevent the state's health care delivery system from becoming overwhelmed. Reducing movement and mixing of individual Californians is critical to decreasing transmission, hospitalizations, and deaths, it said.

The State Public Health Officer issued a Limited Stay at Home order, effective in Los Angeles County and other counties under Tier One (Purple) of California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday, November 21. The order requires that all gatherings with members of other households and all activities conducted outside the residence, lodging or temporary accommodation with members of other households cease between 10 p.m. PST and 5 a.m. PST, except for those activities associated with the operation, maintenance or usage of critical infrastructure[1] or required by law. This order does not apply to persons experiencing homelessness. Nothing in this order prevents any number of persons from the same household from leaving their residence, lodging, or temporary accommodation, as long as they do not engage in any interaction with (or otherwise gather with) any number of persons from any other household, except as specifically permitted herein.

Rising COVID-19 Cases Lead to New L.A. County Public Health Warnings and Order: In addition to the state’s order, L.A. County Department of Public Health released a statement on Wednesday that it will be issuing an amended Public Health Order on Friday that will tighten pandemic safeguards and restrictions. The Department said these safeguards and restrictions will help protect the public health and safety of residents and their ability to be served in our hospitals. The first measures, effective this Friday, are:

  • Retail, Office and Personal Care - For non-essential businesses permitted to operate indoors—including retail stores, offices, personal care services—occupancy will be limited to 25% maximum capacity.

  • Restaurants, Breweries, and Wineries - The number of patrons at outdoor restaurants, breweries and wineries will be limited to 50% max outdoor capacity.

  • Cardrooms and Outdoor Entertainment - The number of customers at cardrooms, outdoor mini-golf, go-karts and batting cages will be limited to 50% maximum outdoor capacity.

  • Personal Care Services - Services at personal care establishments may only be provided by appointment to customers wearing face coverings by staff wearing face coverings.

    • Services that require either the customer or the staff to remove their face covering, such as facials and shaves, are not permitted.

    • Food and drinks cannot be served at these establishments to customers.

  • Time Restrictions - Restaurants, breweries, wineries, bars, and all other non-essential retail establishments must close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

  • Gatherings - Outdoor gatherings remain the only gatherings permitted, and they must include 15 or fewer people who are members of no more than 3 households.

    • The County continues to anticipate the potential continued surge of cases and hospitalizations and has established thresholds for additional actions if cases or hospitalizations continue to increase. On Tuesday, the County reported a five-day average of 2,884 new cases per day, and by Thursday the five-day average has increased to 3,426 cases. The County is additionally reporting 1,238 patients currently hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, an increase from 777 hospitalized on November 2.

    If the five-day average of cases in the County becomes 4,000 or more or hospitalizations are more than 1,750 per day, the Department said the following restriction will be added:

    • Outdoor and indoor dining at restaurants, breweries, wineries and bars will be prohibited and these businesses will only be able to offer pick-up and delivery. Businesses in this sector are being notified via email by DPH, which will work with them to ensure a smooth transition.

    If the five-day average of cases in the County becomes 4,500 or more or hospitalizations are more than 2,000 per day, the Department said the following restriction will be added:

    • A Safer at Home Order will be instituted for three weeks. The Order would only allow essential workers and those securing essential services to leave their homes.

    • A 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew would be mandated, with essential workers exempt.

    Considering COVID-19 when Making Thanksgiving Plans: Because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, L.A. County Public Health Department is encouraging people to celebrate Thanksgiving safely at home and with their immediate family. As always, wearing face coverings over your mouth and nose and maintaining a minimum of 6 feet physical distance from people who are not members of your household continue to be the best protection. The Department provided the following guidelines for having a safe Thanksgiving:

    • Re-think your holiday plans and cancel any plans for travel outside the region in the coming weeks.

  • If you have plans to celebrate Thanksgiving with others who are not in your household, please make sure you will celebrate outdoors with only two other households. If you need to be indoors, this can only happen with members of your immediate household. This is particularly important since people will need to take off their face coverings while eating and drinking.

  • Stay home as much as possible for the next two to three weeks except for accessing essential services. This is especially important for people who are older and people with serious underlying health conditions. When possible, try to use delivery services for groceries and medicines. If this isn’t possible, assign one person from your household to take care of errands and shopping.

  • If you live with people that are older or have serious health conditions, wear face coverings and keep your distance both indoors and outdoors as much as possible. Higher risk household members should try when possible to eat by themselves and particularly avoid being in close contact with other people who have possible exposures at their jobs or in the community.

  • If you are positive or a close contact of someone who is positive, please follow the Public Health Orders to isolate or quarantine for the full amount of time; 10 days for isolating if you are positive and 14 days if you need to quarantine.

  • If you have engaged in risky activities where you may have been exposed because you were in a crowd with people who weren’t wearing masks and distancing, please self-quarantine for 14 days.

    • Hermosa Beach School District Provides Reopening Plans to Parents: Hermosa Beach School District provided its reopening plans to parents today during a Town Hall Meeting. The District has requested a waiver from L.A. County Department of Public Health to offer in-person instruction for TK-2 students.

    Latest Facts & Figures*

    Jurisdiction - Reported Cases | Reported Deaths

    *All reported data is from the close of the previous day.

    Additional Resources

    Please continue to follow public health experts’ recommendations to avoid spreading the coronavirus including frequent handwashing, wearing a face covering, keeping a safe distance from one another, and staying home if you are ill. Public Health has issued the following guidance during this time of increased spread: If you are mildly sick, stay home for at least seven days or until 72 hours after being fever free, whichever is longer. Call your doctor if you are concerned and/or your symptoms worsen. Individuals who are elderly, have underlying health conditions or pregnant should consider contacting their providers earlier when they are sick. More information is available here.

    We are monitoring updates and sharing information about the coronavirus from trusted sources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Public Health, and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

    Information regarding coronavirus is changing frequently, and the City will provide the latest information about COVID-19 and links to resources on our website. To stay informed, please sign up for Hermosa Beach eNotifications, public safety alerts or follow the City on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

    This press release was produced by the City of Hermosa Beach. The views expressed are the author's own.

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